The livestock industry utilizes supplemental feeding to meet the nutritional needs of livestock, particularly grazing livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, horses, bison and the like. Minerals, vitamins, salts and other nutrients are often provided to livestock as a supplement to their basal diet. For example, in an effort to optimize nutritional balance, grazing cattle are often provided with trace mineral and vitamin supplements to compensate for nutrient deficiencies in the grazing animal's diet. While they can be mixed with feed, supplements of this nature are often provided to livestock on an ad libitum or free-choice basis, particularly with grazing livestock.
In order to make such supplements available to livestock on a free-choice basis the supplements are typically provided in free-standing feeders that are freely accessible to the animals. Current feeders on the market, often referred to as “mineral feeders” in the livestock industry, suffer from numerous disadvantages and weaknesses, with the primary weaknesses being durability, portability and spill prevention. As such, a need exists for a livestock feeder that is durable, portable and resists spillage, while being suitable for providing livestock with nutritional supplements.